Time's Forgotten One
by Kirra kills
Summary: i think it's au...right? Nekozawa is forgotten, he is gone, but he is still loved. and sometimes, that is enough. xmas present 4 my best friend, r&r, or coal in your stocking!


He kept his promises, even when the ones he made them to didn't remember them. Or him.

Nekozawa; the boy forgotten in time.

It had begun quite simply, his being erased. He had been studying the ancient scrolls of dark magic; it wasn't supposed to result in _this_! But, then again, it had to happen _some_time; you don't practice the dark arts without having to complete some sort of eventual payment, he just hadn't been expecting _this_. Still, despite this…_complication_, he'd complete his promises, even if those he promised them to no longer knew who he was.

Let the promises begin.

Honey smiled brilliantly at the sun. A day that couldn't be more perfect; his clients had been extra sweet; they had let him eat their dessert! The air was warm, the sun shone brilliantly. Then, he felt a cool breeze that hadn't been there a moment before, the sky seemed a little darker. Honey turned, shivering a little, but there was nothing there. He shrugged and focused his attention on his newest clients, they were playing a game of tag, and he was it. "Coming, girls!" he shouted happily, and started running towards the giggling group, when his foot hit against something that was obviously _not_ grass. He looked down. It was a strange looking cat doll. He picked it up, curious. Something about the characteristics of the doll was familiar…_Belzeneff_ … Honey frowned. Who was Belzeneff? He didn't know why the name had popped into his head only that it seemed to be connected to the doll. There was a note attached to the strange little plush doll, he opened it.

_Hello, Honey-san. You don't remember me, but I gave you a promise, once. This is Belzan, Belzeneff's brother. I think he'll be a good play-mate for your Usa-chan. Even if you don't remember…Take care, Haninozuka-kohai._

_-Umehito N._

Honey stared at the letter, confused. "Umehito…?" A faint sound caused Honey looked in the direction it came from. A tall boy in a dark cloak and black-green hair that covered his face stood in the shadow of a lone tree. The boy smiled at Honey and waved. Honey waved back. "Thank-you Nekozawa-sempai!" the small boy shouted to the shadowy figure. "Honey-sempai?" he smiled at the approaching figures. "Oh, hello girls!" one of his clients, Chiyo Maki, pouted. "We were running for ages, sempai! Why didn't you chase us?" Honey grinned sheepishly. "Sorry!" He said "I got distracted, I guess!" the girls then noticed Belzan. "Oh, what a cute plush doll!" cooed another student, Ayako Matsuoka, if he remembered correctly. He laughed happily. "He _is_ pretty cute, huh? His name is Belzan!" his favorite regular, a client by the name of Reiko Kanazuki spoke then, she was always saying that she would have been in a Black Magic Club if the school would only make one. They never did. "Honey-kun," she said quietly. "Who were you waving to?" Honey frowned "I…I don't know" he said. He looked behind him at where the strange figure had been.

There was nothing there but the stray petals of a midnight black rose.

Morri sat with his own clients sat under the shade of a tree a little ways from where Honey and the other girls were playing. Though it was obvious Morri wasn't completely focused on his companions, they still chatted and laughed, sometimes addressing the silent boy, to which he only grunted, or gave monosyllabic answers. Presently, he became aware of a presence, near the rose bushes. After double-checking to make sure Honey would be fine in his absence, he politely excused himself from the group of giggling girls and went to investigate. When he got to where the roses were, there was nothing out of place. He frowned. Something had been here, was still here, he was certain of it! "You never miss anything, do you, Morinozuka-kun?" Mori whipped around. The hollow place in the rose-bushes he could have sworn was empty a few moments ago was now occupied by a very strange looking person. The figure was covered in a dark cloak, his face indiscernible, covered in the hood of the cloak and lanky grey-green hair. One of his hands was tucked into a creepy-looking cat puppet. The thing glared at Mori, making him shiver. A soft, sad almost, chuckle. "I thought Suoh-kohai was the only one afraid of my Belzeneff, Mori-san." Mori's frown deepened. That voice… "Nekozawa-san?" The name may have been spoken by him, but he didn't recognize it at all. _How strange_, Mori thought. The young man, _Nekozawa_, tossed something at him with only a soft "catch" as warning. Mori's hand easily intercepted the flying object, and he looked down at what he had just grabbed. "A…GPS…?" he murmured, perplexed. The thing in his hand looked like a portable GPS, but there was a location not his own on the screen, and statistics. "No, too high-tech to be a GPS", he mused. "You once asked how my servants always knew where I and Kirimi were" the stranger said. "So, I found out. They tracked us, it turns out. Kirimi's shoes and my wig were bugged. I doubt that was legal, actually. But, I took the liberty of putting a tracking device in the doll I gave Honey, and His Usa-chan, too." Mori paused, wondering how this Nekozawa had managed to pull _that_ off. He didn't ask. "Goodbye, Mori-san, take care of your cousin." Mori nodded, and turned around, going back to his customers. But he couldn't help the unexplainable heaviness in his heart, or the half-remembered memories of a dark prince... He shrugged it off, it wasn't important, anyway.

Above his head, black petals of a rose danced in the breeze.

Kirimi was looking for someone, but she didn't remember who. It was always like this, her searching. Unlike what maid-sama said, she wasn't looking for her prince, her Romeo. No, Kirimi liked to think she was looking for her brother, but that was impossible. Little Kirimi Nekozawa didn't have a brother. Kirimi was an only child. She ran down the halls of Ouran High, crying. On and on she ran, looking for someone who didn't exist. Shouting over and over "Onii-sama! Onii-sama!" She tripped, blinded by tears and confusion, and fell into the enveloping arms of someone she thought she remembered she loved. "Oh, Kirimi", he "murmured. He stroked her face gently, lovingly, wiping all the tears away. "My poor, sweet Kirimi...!" she nuzzled deeper into the folds of the cloak, and smiled, her eyes closed. If she opened them, she'd forget and be scared, and she wanted to _remember_, and be _happy_. "I'm so sorry", the man, her _brother_, whispered. "I shouldn't have left you alone, I'm so, so sorry!" She smiled, burying her head in his shoulder. "I love you, Onii-sama." Kirimi said. She felt herself being lifted then, and wrapped her arms around his neck, head still buried in his shoulder. She was carried like that in silence, for a time. Then she felt herself being shifted, and heard the click of a door, and knew her time with her brother was almost gone. He sat her down on what felt like a chair, her big brother hugged her, then. "Kirimi," he said gently. "I will always be here, with you. So, don't be afraid anymore. Be brave, I'm here, I'm with you, even if you don't see, even if you don't remember, I'll always be close by." Tears leaked out of her still closed eyes. He let go of her. "Big brother…" she whimpered "good-bye, Kirimi. I love you" Kirimi opened her eyes. Besides herself, the room was empty, although, as if meant as proof that the man, her brother, had been there, it was strewn with black rose petals, and on her lap, lay a rose as black as night. From that day on, Kirimi never again ran through the halls looking for someone that didn't exist, and the black rose remained as fresh as the day she received it her entire life.

The twins were bored. There had been no good opportunities to prank anyone, namely Tamaki, and they hadn't had any customers for the past few days. They were in the third music room, sitting on one of the couches. Hikaru was sitting upside down on the couch, his legs hanging over the back, while his twin sat normally, his hands on his knees. "What do you want to do, Kauru?" Hikaru asked voice dull. Kauru sighed. "I dunno, what do you want to do?" Hikaru's head rolled to one side as he looked at his brother. "Stop playing this game?" He asked. "We've been going over it for over an hour!" his twin shrugged. "Well, have any other bright ideas?" Hikaru sighed, and then, "well we _could_ check out that shadow over there…" Kauru looked at him "what shadow?" Hikaru pointed. "The one that just appeared for no reason at all in that corner", he said. Kauru grinned. Sure! Let's go see this 'magic shadow'" he teased, but his twin got up and dragged him over. Hikaru ignored his brother's complaints and continued walking. He felt like they needed to see this, whatever it was, and he couldn't shake how familiar it was, though he was sure he'd never… "Hi, Nekozawa-sempai" said Kauru, surprising both of them. "Where have you been?" a person seemingly materialized out of the shadows, Hikaru was almost certain the boy hadn't been there two seconds ago, but here he was. Tall, but slightly hunched over, a cloak wrapped around his entire body and a puppet of a creepy cat on his hand. He was so familiar, this, apparently, Nekozawa-sempai, but he didn't know him, did he? Actually he was sure neither of them did. So then, who was he? The cloaked guy smiled and reached into the folds, Kauru and Hikaru looked at each other. What was he doing? Finally, his hands came out, each one holding a book. In one hand was "a guide to the macabre" and in the other was "100,00 sneaky pranks" they looked at the books, then up at the person presenting them. "Well, go on," he said. "the books aren't going to bite, and neither am I, or Belzeneff, for that matter." Hesitantly, they took the books. They looked at them, then at each other. Both turned to say thanks to the shadowy figure, but he was gone. "How does he do that?" Huffed Kauru. His twin looked at him "how does who do what?" Hikaru asked. "I dunno…hey; want to go try these out on Tama-kun?" Hikaru grinned; finally, something to do.

Black petals passed unnoticed out the door behind them.

Tamaki was on edge. From what, he didn't know. He was scared out of his mind, but no-one paid attention to his incoherent babblings, too used to him freaking out about nothing. He sat down in one of the seats in the unused classroom he was in. the twins were on a rampage, and the chaos they were causing had made it necessary to hide. He sighed; might as well get comfortable, he would probably be here awhile. His mind wandered, as it had recently started doing more and more frequently, to thoughts of Haruhi. Tamaki growled, just like Mori-san to grab both Hunni and Haruhi-if Tamaki didn't know better, he'd say Mori was trying to steal Haruhi away from him, but that was silly. Tamaki laughed. Unless…what if Mori really _was_ trying to take away his Haruhi? Yes, that was terrifying! Just then he felt a cold hand on his shoulder, and a breath gusted his ear. "Nigh, Suoh-san, what are you doing in my club room?" Tamaki jumped, whirled around, and fell out of his seat, screaming. The demon before him started laughing, his head thrown back, the hood slipping off. In the back of his mind, Tamaki was glad the lights were off –where did that come from? Why was he relieved about _that_? The boy stooped down, eye level to Tamaki. You always were the one for dramatics, weren't you, _Tamaki-kun_?" Tamaki frowned. Where did this stranger get the right to call him by his first name? They didn't know each other. He angrily told the shadowy stranger this. The boy smiled. He pulled his left hand, which had been in cloak previously, and waved it in Tamaki's face. "Belzeneff says hi, Tamaki-kun." He was trying so hard not to laugh; it didn't work as the blond in from of him widened his eyes and screamed, "_Get that thing away from me, Nekozawa!_" Tamaki jumped back, and hit his head on the desk behind him. Poor Tamaki blacked out. He woke up slowly, and at first thought it had all been in his head. It wouldn't be the first time. But as he sat up slowly, rubbing his aching head, something fell to the ground. It was a letter, his name on the envelope. The color drained out of Tamaki's face. With fingers trembling, he hesitantly opened the letter.

_I'm sorry I couldn't stay, Tamaki-san. But I was afraid you'd hurt yourself worse if I stayed. In this envelope, you'll find love charms. I have a feeling you'll be needing them. To be honest, I wasn't sure if you were serious, you made a lot of requests of me, and you really are too simple-minded for me to comprehend. I did my best, and hope it is satisfactory. Oh, by the way, behave yourself. I'll be watching._

_-Umehito Nekozawa_

His friends found him four hours later inside a grandfather clock babbling about creepy demon-men with evil cat-hands. No-one was too worried, though. After all, this was Tamaki they were talking about.

Only Renge saw the black petals, the shadowy figure. Only Renge followed.

She followed the petals to the lunch-room, and looked around. It was quite dark now, from the storm-clouds outside. It was as if the world was sad about something, but she couldn't think what. "Hey, Mister Mysterious Figure~?" she called. No answer. She huffed and crossed her arms, pretty sure that characters in her video-games didn't have this much trouble, she couldn't even think what had possessed her to come in the first place! "Ah, Renge-chan, you are not half so pretty with your face screwed up like that!" She whirled around, startled. A boy sat on one of the tables. He was in the normal male uniform of Ouron High, but that was strange, because he didn't go there. Or did he? There was something so achingly familiar about him… he had pale-blue eyes, and sunshine-yellow hair that fell almost to his shoulders. A cloak, puppet, and what looked like a wig were next to him. The boy held his hand out to her and smiled. "Renge, would you care to dance?" he asked. She didn't know what to say, so she accepted. He pulled a small music box out from under the pile of clothes beside him, and opened it. a haunting, but tragically and fragilely happy melody, and Renge instantly loved it. She imagined it would be the type of music you'd find in a tragic ending of a video-game. The boy took her hand, and they danced. "What is the song called?" Renge asked after a little while. The boy smiled. "Blackest rose." Came the answer. "It was written by Tamaki-san." She frowned. That was the first _she_ had heard of it! A few minutes later her dance partner broke the silence once more. "Renge-chan, I will leave when the song ends. Good-bye." She panicked, "what? No! I only just met-" he kissed her forehead, and it all came rushing back. The dances, the pic-niques, the dates, the kiss- The last note died, and he was gone, taking the memories with him. But not the sadness. She fell to the floor, her face buried in her hands and cried. And outside, the world, and a solitary figure in black, cried with her. The music-box, shaped like a miniature coffin, became her prized possession.

Kyoya frowned. Why was he out on the balcony again? Normally he didn't do things without thinking, or planning ahead of time, but now… he shook his head, and turned to go back inside when, "we are alike, you and I." Kyoya turned, frowning. A cloaked figure sat on his balcony rail, looking at the stars. Kyoya smiled slightly. "I don't think we are, actually." He told the figure. Kyoya walked over and leaned against the railing beside the other boy. The boy shrugged. "We both, to some degree, belong to the dark, _Prince_ _of_ _Shadows_." Kyoya looked at him sharply. He was only called that at school, so how did…? "Nekozawa…" Kyoya murmured. Nekozawa smiled sadly. "Don't be surprised you don't know the name you just uttered." He said sadly. "It's really difficult to remember someone who _erased themselves from existence_..." Kyoya blinked as he processed that information. Then, "are you the one who's been making trouble for everyone, then" Nekozawa smiled. "Trust you to figure it out, Kyoya-san." Kyoya shrugged. You said you no longer exist, and every-one has been receiving mysterious gifts in encounters they don't remember, and knowing things they don't remember learning. It wasn't that hard to put two and two together. It's logic." A laugh from his companion. "When you wake up, you'll find a scrapbook. Full of memories, because someone needs to remember, and since you hate forgetting anyway, it might as well be you." Kyoya looked at him sharply. "Wait, _dreaming_? Nekozawa-" a sigh. Good-bye, kyoya. Take care of the host club." Kyoya ssat upright in his bed, the dream already mostly forgotten, and it had been important too… his eyes fell on something unfamiliar, a dark blob on his nightstand. He groped for both it and his glasses. The thing turned into something definite. Kyoya's eyes widened, shocked. It was a scrapbook. What was more, it was _his_, the handwriting on the inside was enough to confirm it. But he didn't remember ever owning one. Then, he smiled. He saw the pictures inside and remembered. As long as he held the scrapbook, it was enough.

Haruhi sighed contentedly. The sun was warm, the air was cool, and it really was a beautiful day to walk home on. Tamaki had thrown a fit, as usual, saying she was too dainty to walk home alone and what if she needed 'daddy' (as he frequently called himself) to protect her? She had said that he couldn't protect her; he hid in clocks screaming about nothing. This had sent him into a spiraling pit of despair, and she had left, ignoring the wails and moans. She wasn't paying attention to the road, that's what she blamed what happened next on. She wasn't paying attention and she tripped. Simple as that. Haruhi tripped, her bag flying out of her hand. Suddenly, a steadying hand caught onto her shoulder, stabilizing her, and another hand caught her bag. "My, my one should be careful on this road." She was chastised gently. Haruhi smiled and looked up at her rescuer. "Sometimes, we have a lot on our minds. It happens." The boy who had saved her grinned. He was in a cloak, but the hood was down revealing shoulder-length blond hair. "I thought you couldn't go out in the sunlight." Her tone was accusatory. He shrugged. "I used to," he said. "But then I did a ritual, and I could." He looked at his hand, as though amazed. "But something went wrong." Her tone was blunt, matter-of-fact. He looked at her and shrugged, embarrassed. "Yes, something went wrong, and I found that I had accidentally…erased myself. From existence. No-one remembers me, not at all." His voice had taken in a strained quality. Haruhi folded her arms and looked at him. "That's bull." She said, ignoring his surprised expression. "You can't erase a memory, to some extent it'll still be there, buried, hidden, but still there. Friends don't forget friends" he laughed as the breeze intensified. "Thank-you Miss Haruhi, I had forgotten. Now it was her turn to be shocked. She was still in her uniform, the male one, she was posing as a boy, besides the Host Club, no-one else knew… "Who _are_ you?" she asked. He smiled and bowed, the wind intensifying all the while. "Umehito Nekozawa, Prince of Darkness, at your service." Her eyes widened. "Nekozawa?" the wind blew petals around him, black ones. She started moving toward him, realizing only now he had been slowly moving away while they talked. The petals started to obscure him from view; she stretched her hand out, running now. She reached him, too late. Her fingers touched only rose-petals. Nekozawa was gone. It wasn't until later she realized he had put something in her bag-a recipe book, on how to make the rich food she liked so much cheaply. She smiled.

Alone, far from anywhere, Nekozawa stood alone and laughed. He was gone, he was forgotten, but he was still loved. And that was enough.

**End**


End file.
